How to sum up Japan's summer of disaster in Japanese?
The summer of 2018 was one for the books — busting meteorological records, wreaking havoc and devastating entire regions along the coast of western Japan.
Rest, weary Japan traveler, and read this riveting 'ishibumi'
Much can be gleaned from memorials and markers erected at roadsides and elsewhere in Japan to commemorate people or mark events.
Getting to know Japan on a first-name basis
What's in a first name? In Japan, you'll find insights into societal change.
Will society still need me, will it still feed me, when I'm 100?
Back in the 1960s when Paul McCartney wrote "When I'm 64," the average life expectancy worldwide was 52. Yet half a century on, Japan is already gearing up for the era of 人生百年 (jinsei hyakunen, 100-year life).
Smile as you study:/ Sharp salaryman senryu/ satirize the slog
Highlights from the 31st Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest riff on the situations employees encounter at the office, home or both.
Spooky Japanese tales will scare the summer's heat out of you
Until recently, summer nights involved turning off the AC and doing things like kurumaza ni natte kaidanbanashi (sitting in a circle and telling ghost stories).
Get a handle on kanji in Japanese with the hand classifier
Considering the versatility of the human hand, it should come as no surprise that it can be found within more than 1,000 kanji.
Wherever you go in Japanese, you'll always find your 'tokoro'
The word "tokoro" can be used to pin down a place in space, time or in a more abstract sense.
'All Japan' World Cup team gave fans and the media much to mull over
Regardless of musical chairs with the manager job, the Japanese are basking in the afterglow of having made it to the round of 16 when few people had thought they could pull it off.
Speak Japanese like a biker punk from the future with 'Akira'
Those looking to give their Japanese a bit of biker edge could do worse than take in a screening of the classic sci-fi anime "Akira."
In Japanese, finding 'beauty' in plump sheep and toadies
Kanji with ovine roots turns up all over the place in Japanese vocabulary.
At 180,000 entries, Jim Breen's freeware Japanese dictionary is still growing
Even if they haven't visited Jim Breen's site directly, every Japanese learner will have come across his dictionary material in some form.
